Next, Friday, September 28, at 7pm at the
church building we will resume the fourth Friday lessons for the young people.
They will need a King James Bible and a notepad.Parents are welcome to stay to watch a sermon
on DVD.I ask the ladies to each bring
one light snack and we will have refreshments afterwards.

?-----------------------------?

SUNDAY’S READING IN PROVERBS

Proverbs
12: 4: A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh
ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

?-----------------------------?

ANCHOR
OF THE SOUL

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul,
both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. Hebrews
6:19

On a recent trip to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin
Islands to visit our friends, Daniel (Moose) and Sandy Parks, a coastguard ship
was anchored off shore right in front of where my wife Teresa and I were
staying. As we observed the ship several times during the day, the front of the
ship would be pointing in different directions depending on how the wind was
blowing. Yet the ship was never moved from its anchored position. Child of God,
it is the same with our souls that are anchored to Christ. What great hope we
have of never being moved from faith in our Savior. The Holy Spirit (the wind
and breath of God) moves us in different directions by His sovereign power,
purpose and providence to accomplish His will, but we are never moved from
Christ, the Anchor of our souls. I find great comfort and assurance in the idea
of my soul being anchored to Christ, “sure
and stedfast.” Don’t you?Pastor David Eddmenson

?-----------------------------?

OUR STRENGTH IS THE LORD

Ephesians
6: 10: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his
might.

Every elect child, born of God, is in a
warfare.But our strength for this war
is not of us but of God.Believers have
no strength in us.None of the gospel
exhortations given us by Christ are performed in our own strength.

Our strength is the Lord Jesus Christ, “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”The Lord told the apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my
strength is made perfect in weakness.”We are strong by the power of Christ resting upon us.When we are weak so as to look only to Christ
then are we strong. (2 Cor 12: 9-10) “In
all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
(Rom 8: 37)

A
branch gets all its strength from the vine.Separate the branch from the vine and it withers away because it is
cutoff from its life and strength.Likewise, the believer’s life and strength is from Christ who lives in
us.Our Lord said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the
vine, ye are the branches: He
that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for
without me ye can do nothing.” (Jn 15: 4-5)

So
the Holy Spirit turns us to our strength, “Put
on the whole armor of God.” (Eph 6: 11) Our armor for this fight is of God:
God provides it, God gives it, God is the sum of it and God is the efficacy of
it. “The weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” (2 Cor
10: 4)

?-----------------------------?

THE
ENEMY

Ephesians
6: 11: Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil. 12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

In order to fight this war then we must know
who our enemy is.Our enemy is the devil
and a host of fallen, wicked powers.Indeed, we do wrestle against our own sinful flesh and we are opposed by
wicked men.But our chief adversary is
not man but the wiles of the devil.“Principalities and powers” are unseen
spiritual demons which are fallen angels (2 Pet 2: 4). “The rulers of the darkness of this world” expresses their power and
authority over all men who are in the darkness of spiritual death.“Spiritual
wickedness in high places”
means they are wicked spirits, wicked angels.Satan is called "the prince
of the power of the air.“ (Eph. 2:2.) Believers wrestle against
innumerable, invisible, wicked spirits which are all around us, which are under
the power of the devil.This enemy is
dangerous not only because of being invisible and strong, but because the devil
is subtle, “Now the serpent was more
subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said
unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the
garden?” (Gen 3: 1) Someone said that the devil’s chains of bondage are
made of satin so as to feel good to our sinful flesh. We need Christ our
Strength and the whole armour of God to fight this enemy.

?-----------------------------?

OUR WEAPONS ARE SPIRITUAL

Ephesians
6: 13: Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

There was a picture of this armory under the
old covenant. We read of “the tower of
David, builded for an armory, whereon there hung a thousand bucklers, all
shields of mighty men.” (SOS 4: 4) There were Solomon’s “three score valiant men, the valiant of
Israel, who held swords, being expert in war: every man having his sword upon
his thigh, because of fear in the night’ (SOS 3:7, 8).That earthly armory in earthly Jerusalem
pictured our heavenly armory in heavenly Jerusalem made by our heavenly David,
our heavenly Solomon, Christ Jesus. “The
Lord hath opened His armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of His
indignation.” (Jer 50: 25)

So
he says “take the whole armor of God and “put
on the whole armor of God.”The
reason is “that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.”Each believer is to “with-stand” by “standing-with
Christ our Captain”.The real battle
sometimes comes after you have withstood the initial temptation.It comes in the form of pride or
vain-glorying.We need these weapons
before, during and after the temptation, so that after Christ has made us
stand, we might continue to oppose and resist the evil.“The
evil day” is not some great day in the end of time. It is trial, conflict
and temptation we face every day.